Inside the shimmering Winding Woods.

Gigantamax Grimmsnarl and Gigantamax Hatterene simultaneously launched a ferocious assault toward Cresselia.

The thunderous attack that tore through the night roared across the battlefield.

The surging G-Max Snooze Energy Ball flew through the air at high speed, trailing black exhaust as it closed in.

At the critical moment, Jacob’s voice rang out.

“Lapras, use Max Guard!”

Jacob had deliberately kept Lapras from using any moves until this precise moment—to deploy Max Guard and shield all his Pokémon from the incoming attacks!

Gigantamax Lapras erupted with dazzling light. Normal-type energy surged forth, forming a massive protective barrier around its body that covered all the Pokémon overhead like the sturdiest fortress, blocking both Gigantamax moves completely.

Simultaneously, Cresselia’s Lunar Blessing activated once more, healing all the Pokémon’s injuries again. The other four Pokémon launched their most devastating attacks toward Grimmsnarl!

Iron Valiant gripped its double-edged blade, swinging the purple edges. Fairy-type energy erupted, and beneath the bright moon with twinkling starlight overhead, Moonblast surged toward Gigantamax Grimmsnarl.

Darkrai unleashed violent Poison-type energy—Sludge Bomb!

Hydreigon’s Flash Cannon and Mega Gardevoir’s Hyper Voice joined the barrage!

All attacks converged and blasted toward Gigantamax Grimmsnarl. This time, the massive Pokémon couldn’t block them, and its enormous size left no room to dodge. Every attack connected directly.

“BOOM!”

Accompanied by a thunderous explosion, thick smoke billowed outward. Gigantamax Grimmsnarl staggered from the impact, its massive body tilting backward uncontrollably, nearly toppling to the ground. Its face contorted into an expression of pain and rage, as fearsome as a demon.

“ROOOAR!”

Gigantamax Grimmsnarl stabilized its stance and extended its right hand. Dark-type energy surged and erupted throughout its body, the entire form seemingly engulfed in a layer of black energy flames.

“ROOOAR!”

Following Gigantamax Grimmsnarl’s roar, a pitch-black Dark-type Energy Ball shot forth, heading toward Cresselia once again!

“G-Max Snooze!”

Even severely wounded, Gigantamax Grimmsnarl refused to give up its assault on Cresselia. Another G-Max Snooze flew toward the Lunar Pokémon.

“Iron Valiant, use Protect! Shield Cresselia from the attack!”

Jacob’s voice cut through the chaos.

Hearing Jacob’s command, Iron Valiant brought its double-edged blade across its body defensively, its cold gaze fixed on the incoming massive Energy Ball as its protective barrier materialized!

“BOOM!”

Accompanied by a tremendous roar, the enormous Dark-type Energy Ball arced gracefully through the air and slammed into Iron Valiant’s position.

Iron Valiant’s Protect alone couldn’t completely nullify a Gigantamax move. The barrier shattered under G-Max Snooze’s assault, fragmenting like broken glass.

The attack then struck Iron Valiant’s body directly!

Dark-type energy exploded violently, forming a semi-circular blast at Iron Valiant’s location, engulfing everything nearby.

Simultaneously, a massive black shockwave rippled outward at visible speed, causing flowers, grass, and trees to sway wildly with audible rustling sounds—a truly astonishing display of power.

The smoke gradually cleared, slowly revealing Iron Valiant’s steadfast figure. It maintained its standing posture, gaze unwavering, immediately brandishing the double-edged blade in preparation to counterattack at any moment!

Although G-Max Snooze left some scratches across its body, closer inspection revealed no serious damage.

The Protect move had blocked a portion of G-Max Snooze’s force. Combined with Aurora Veil’s damage reduction and its quadruple resistance to Dark-type attacks, Iron Valiant weathered the blow with relative ease!

Such minor injuries could be effortlessly healed by a single Lunar Blessing from Cresselia.

“Lapras, Ice Beam!”

As Jacob’s voice rang out, Lapras opened its mouth and released a massive Ice Beam. The light blue ray tore through the night, spanning the sky like a silver ribbon, striking Gigantamax Grimmsnarl with perfect accuracy and severely wounding it.

At the same time, the other Pokémon launched their own attacks on Gigantamax Grimmsnarl—but this also exposed a critical problem: no one remained to counter Gigantamax Hatterene’s assault!

“Dazzling Gleam!”

Hatterene’s body radiated brilliance, as if adorned in a sequined gown, sparkling like a regal queen. The Fairy-type energy it released swept across the entire battlefield, dealing indiscriminate damage to all Pokémon.

Among them, Raya’s Hydreigon, quadruply weak to Fairy-type moves, couldn’t withstand this second Dazzling Gleam. It was the first to fall, losing consciousness and being recalled to its Poké Ball by Raya.

Similarly, Darkrai sustained severe injuries after taking this Dazzling Gleam, while Iron Valiant fared slightly better but still suffered significant damage.

Mega Gardevoir and Cresselia also sustained varying degrees of injury.

Overall, only Gigantamax Lapras remained in peak condition.

At the same time, outside the Secret Realm Gap, those standing guard remained in deep slumber, breathing steadily.

In a secret stronghold not far from the location…

“There’s a problem.”

The staff member seated before the computer, observing the transmitted data, immediately grabbed the radio and spoke urgently, “It’s Giovanni. He’s here.”

“Are you certain?” A deep voice crackled through the radio.

“Over ninety percent certain.”

The staff member replied, eyes fixed on the computer screen. “The data shows that all our personnel stationed there have entered deep sleep, and it’s lasted five minutes. They didn’t even trigger the alarm. It must be Giovanni’s Darkrai’s doing.”

Hearing the staff member’s report, the man on the other end of the radio’s lips curled into a slight smile, a cruel expression crossing his face. “Understood.”

Finally, he took the bait.

The middle-aged man’s face twisted into a sinister expression. Knowing Giovanni possessed a Legendary Pokémon like Darkrai, how could they possibly be unprepared?

From the very beginning, the personnel stationed at the intelligence location were merely bait. They’d been equipped with precision instruments to monitor heartbeats and neural activity during sleep.

Whether they were killed outright or fell into deep slumber, it could be monitored here in real-time.

The current situation—everyone simultaneously falling into deep sleep—was clearly problematic.

It should be noted that even at night, they’d arranged patrol personnel in two shifts. It was impossible for everyone to fall asleep simultaneously. Such a scenario could only be Darkrai’s work.

After waiting so many days, Giovanni had finally come searching for the Gigantamax Pokémon.

“Gentlemen, I must ask you all to mobilize. I will personally deliver the promised compensation once this matter is concluded.”

The middle-aged man addressed the several individuals beside him. “Giovanni’s strength is formidable. Do not deploy Heavenly King-level-level Pokémon. The minimum requirement is Champion level Pokémon.”

“And to prevent him from using Teleport to escape through the Spirit World, I’m asking you two to have your Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokémon act to seal off the surrounding space.”

“This time, we must ensure absolute success and capture Giovanni.”

“Once it’s done, his Gigantamax Lapras and Darkrai will be ours!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep